Dark Moon: a Caster novel
by Katy Duchannese
Summary: summary comming soon  I hope  but please give my story a try
1. Prolouge

**Prologue:**

The girl screamed out in horror. They were everywhere! The Enemy blocked all possible exits and they just kept coming. They surrounded her family, keeping them around the perimeter of the room so the center was visible to all; restraining them with knives angled at their necks. She looked around cautiously and saw, with a glimmer of satisfaction, that there were at least two men needed to keep each member of her family from lashing out in a black fury.

She focused her attention now on the two men holding her against the wall. The one on the right was a heavy-set man with short-cropped hair and a long ugly scar that gashed from his right temple all the way down to the bottom of his left cheek. This made his features look misshapen and blurred his aristocratic features. The other man, who looked to be about twenty, was fairer and had a good amount of thick blond hair that almost covered his eyes completely. He had very prominent cheekbones and actually looked slightly uncomfortable standing next to her, almost as if he disapproved of the Enemy's plan to rid the earth of Casters like herself.

She began to struggle against them but it was no use. The first man—the one who held the knife—only grunted and held the knife closer to her thin throat. This stopped her efforts quite suddenly and a bead of blood welled up at the edge of the blade and then made its way down the collar of the brand new shirt that her mother had bought her just that morning. It stained the white blouse and she felt a wave of cold fury crash over her like a tidal wave.

A small whimper past through her lips involuntarily and the burly man looked smug with satisfaction. Well she would show him! She slowly turned her head in his direction. His mouth twitched up in a smirk thinking that she could do nothing to harm him. He was dead wrong. She took a deep breath and hacked a large glob of spit right into his eye. His grip on her loosened as if he made to wipe the spit away. That was all she needed. She mentally knocked the blade out of his hand; her eyes turning pitch black as she did so.

The men looked taken aback at the drastic change in her eye color. While their guard was down she grabbed the second man's arm and twisted it violently until she heard a clearly audible _pop! _The man's shoulder was just popped out of its socket. His other hand went up to hold the now useless arm and she took the opportunity to land a roundhouse kick to his chest. He fell back and crashed into the wall, his head jerking back and rendering him unconscious.

Now the man with the knife was just staring at her is shock. He had not realized that she was capable of this amount of damage. She smiled wickedly and lunged at him, landing squarely on his chest and forcing him to the floor. She took his leg in her hands and, propping her knee up, smashed it over her leg. He cried out in pain as his leg snapped like a twig in her small, nimble hands. The girl then took the knife from where it lay beside her and lodged it in his throat. He choked as the blood started to spill out of his nose and mouth, his eyes looking at her pleadingly. But there was nothing she could do, even if she wanted to, for his eyes were already growing dim as his life slipped away. He took one more gurgling breath, his body spasming and then went completely limp.

She had killed him, with her own hands. She knelt there in shock for a moment but was snapped back to reality by a cry that almost sounded inhuman. She whirled around just as one of the older men took a dagger from his belt and plunged it right into her mother's chest. She stood there, paralyzed as her mother gasped in shock and pain, staring at the knife that protrude from her chest right above her heart. There was a moment when every one froze in horror as the blood seeped through her shirt like a crimson rose. Then she fell. Her mother dropped to the earth like a dead weight in the center of the room.

Then everything seemed to happen at once. She ran to her mother, as the lifeblood gushed out of the mother's chest, staining the hard wood and making it very slick. She was almost there when a shadow loomed over her, blocking her path. She paid no attention to who or what it was as she called up her Casting powers. She felt the shock of adrenalin and power coursing through her veins—her very soul even—and felt the familiar spark of fire at her fingertips. She looked down, seeing her hands glow with black fire amazed at how it didn't burn her. She willed the fire to form an orb and it did so easily. She thrust out her hands and the flaming sphere met its target in the chest. The man, who smelled of the Enemy, screamed and as he tried to extinguish the fire, turned to ashes at her feet.

It was too late. She reached her mother just as she took her last shuttering breath. The girl fell to her knees and her body was convulsed with uncontrollable shaking. She started to cry. The girl no longer cared about what happened to the rest of her family, her brothers and sisters, her aunts and uncles, not even her father. All she knew was that her mother was dead and that her world had just shattered into one million pieces that could never be placed back together ever again.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

I woke up in a cold sweat. My heart was pounding but I kept my eyes shut, sensing a figure looming over my supposedly sleeping body. I could hear its breathing and the shadow cast over my eyes showed that the person had a petite form, so I figured that it was a girl. I still couldn't tell if she was one of the Enemy and I wasn't going to take any chances. My muscles tensed, ready for a fight, and I welcomed the familiar rush of adrenalin that poured through my veins, mixing with my Caster blood to sharpen my senses and heightening my Casting powers.

I didn't need to use my powers though; all I needed was to throw a decent punch to the nose using the element of surprise. I curled my hand into a fist under the plush covers of my bed and concentrated on keeping my breathing at an even rate. The person didn't move so I took one last breath and threw my fist up as hard as I could and heard the satisfying smack of my fist contacting with skin. I heard the person fall to the floor and opened my eyes too see who it was and was rewarded with the sight of an angry Jaylen, her eyes red with rage.

"What the hell is wrong with you," she inquired, standing up and still glaring at me. I braced myself for the long lecture and stinging slap that was sure to follow. "I wake up to the sound of you screaming and run over to see what's wrong just to get _punched_ in the face by my lunatic of a sister!"

Now she was shaking with rage and her hands were balled up into tight fists. The air around her started charging with energy that was almost a bluish shade. Well shit, this was going to be more than the usual slap. I slowly got out of bed and faced her, standing in a defensive position as my emotions boiled over and my eyes turned black as night. The air around me sizzled and popped with the energy that was surrounding me.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" I screamed at her as I felt the familiar prickle in my fingers that indicated that I had—on accident or on purpose—called up the force of Black Fire. Black Fire is a deadly creation of the elements that can only be called upon and controlled by very few people called Casters. Casters are people who can control elements, create things with them, and summon elemental things that are not known to ordinary humans.

I—along with my sister Jaylen and my brother Ashtin—am a Caster.

"You could have just woken up and said 'Good morning, Jaylen' like a normal person instead of pounding my face in the first chance you get!"

"Well excuse me for waking up from a damn scary nightmare where our mother dies right in front of me," I shot back as the ball of Black Fire was steadily growing and starting to wrap around my arm like a vine.

"That gives you no right to punch me," she pouted

"Well . . . technically it does seeing that I thought you were one of the Enemy that had found our house and was preparing to kill me as I supposedly slept." I stared at my hands, covered in black flames that leapt and swirled at my command. I became mesmerized and zoned out of the lecture that Jaylen was no doubt trying to give me right now. The flames became my world and soon enough, it became a flickering black rose in my hand, then a soaring eagle, and finally it became the face of me beloved wolf named Assyria.

Just as soon, Assyria appeared at my side and nudged me with her nose. _You should start paying attention to what she's saying__,_ Assyria's voice appeared in my head. _She is almost finished with her painfully long lecture. Then we can go do something useful with our time, like working on finishing your drawing or going outside to hunt!_ Assyria yipped and started to wag her tail.

I sighed inwardly and agreed with her. Then I regretfully turned my attention back to Jaylen.

" . . . That is why you have no right to punch me just because you feel like it. Do you understand me," she paused and studied my carefully blank, innocent face. She sighed and glared at me, her blue eyes sharp and watchful. "You didn't hear a thing I said, did you Cassie,"

"No I don't believe she did," a male voice sounded from the shadows. Ashtin. "So, how about she does extra chores to get the point across." Ashtin walked out from the shady corner and set down a bag of groceries as he glared at me. I did not flinch as many people would at the intensity of his cold gray eyes. Instead I stood at my full height—which isn't much—and met his eyes with the intensity of my own.

His panther, Nero, padded over to stand at his master's side as the tension rose between us. Assyria moved to stand in front of me, having her own silent war with Nero. Jaylen stood awkwardly between us, uncertain of what to do to break the tension when she spotted a box of donuts in the abandoned grocery bag.

"Oh, look," she squealed reaching for the box, "donuts! My favorite!" Then she ran over to Ashtin and threw her arms around him. "Thank you Onnie-chan!"

I gave an unladylike snort and took the box from Jaylen. She had just made two major mistakes.

One, Ashtin absolutely hates hugs. And two, he despises the title 'Onnie-chan' which, unfortunately for him, means big sister in Japanese.

"Yo, Jay," I called while walking to the kitchen to pig out on my donuts, "you might want to get you hands off of Ashtin before he explodes from the shock of being in physical contact with another person. He may also die of embarrassment at the use of the name 'Onnie-chan' seeing that he is a boy, and that he is certainly not gay . . ."

I then turned to stare Ashtin up and down, "You're not gay, right?"

"Well of course I'm not gay!"

"Okay, okay, just checking. I mean you never really know these days"

Jaylen couldn't help giggling at this, which earned her a death glare from the man himself. He usually saved those glares for me.

Assyria nudged me then glanced to the door.

"All right," I sighed, "we'll go outside and hunt, but then we come in to work on my drawing. Deal?" my wolf barked in agreement and we headed out doors, leaving the donuts for Jay and Ashtin.

"Don't forget afternoon training," Ashtin called as I walked down the path that leads from out cabin to the great wilderness of Montana.

I waved a hand carelessly and without looking back replied, "Yeah, yeah. Don't go around getting you panties in a bunch 'Onnie-chan'. Hey," I said turning around, "I think that title does fit you! Onnie-chan, that is your new name!" and with that, I turned and ran into the forest with Assyria close on my heels.

I stood in the clearing with Assyria, the morning sun filtering through the tree leaves, the smell of the forest calming my overactive nerves. I sat at the trunk of my favorite tree, Assyria sitting beside me with her head in my lap. I pet her head absently while my mind raced back to the nightmare last night, my nerves spiking all over again. Why did I keep having these dreams? What did they mean? I sighed and kept thinking even though I was no closer to the answer than I had been two hours ago.

Are you okay? Assyria's voice came into my mind halting my thoughts.

"Yeah," I lied, "I'm fine, now let's start hunting." I stood up and looked down at my Guardian. She clearly didn't believe my lie.

I rolled my eyes inwardly. Of course she could tell I was lying. It is a guardian's job to protect their Caster and to do that they had to have a special bond where the Guardian could communicate with Caster in ways that regular animals couldn't. A Caster could only hear the voice of their Guardian unless they had the ability to hear all animals. The Guardian could also pick up on the emotions of their Caster as to better understand them and protect them. Assyria was my Guardian. Ashtin's guardian is Nero, a black panther that acted like a kitten. Jaylen's Guardian is a falcon named Lynerra. She was kind of like our lookout while Nero was the spy and Assyria, along with Ashtin, Jaylen, and I fought when we had to. We usually just practiced but it's good to be ready for whatever the Enemy decides to throw our way.

The Enemy—might I add—is and elite group of humans who made a living out of hunting Casters. They have been hunting us ever since the Witch Trials in Salem. Many of us died and we almost became extinct but a few families managed to escape. These families were the Alvarezes, the Carusos, the Flynns, the Sedgwicks, the Lockharts, the Magnusons, and us: the Deatherages. Of these remaining families, our family, the Alvarezes, and the Magnusons are the most powerful. Our family and the Alvarezes have a deep running feud in our family so we try to stay away from them too.

Assyria's voice then cut into my thoughts for a second time that day. Do you smell that? She asked her nose wrinkled in disgust. It smells like big trouble. We should go get rid of it, and then she bolted off into the thicker part of the forest.

I silently agreed with her and pulled a switchblade out of my pocket and took my chain whip out of my combat boots. Then I was running as fast as I could through the forest to fight whatever was coming.

When I sensed that I was near where Assyria had stopped, I silently climbed up a near by tree to see what exactly the trouble was. I peered out through the leaves to see that Assyria had cornered a group of four kids. I stared at them for a while and realized that they were Casters also. And not just any Casters, they were part of the Alvarez family.

Oh boy, this was going to be good!

I silently dropped out of the tree, startling the youngest one. She looked about fourteen and had long, wavy blonde hair that went perfectly with her bluish gray eyes that were wide with fear. She had a dove sitting on her shoulder and I figured that it was her Guardian.

The boy standing next to her reached out his hand to comfort his sister. He had tousled brown hair and big, kind brown eyes that reminded me of a young doe. He was a good height and very lanky; he didn't have much muscle and looked to be about my age, sixteen. Standing next to him was, in fact, a doe. She was probably his Guardian as well.

Then there was another boy. He looked to be around seventeen and had jet-black hair that swept to the side and covered his left eye. It fell to the nape of his neck. He was taller than the first boy and had eyes like steel. He glared at me, silently brooding and probably making a plan of escape. He wore a black leather jacket and a band T-shirt that had Framing Hanley written across the front—my favorite band! I now must admit that the kid had a good taste in music. He wore ripped skinny jeans and scuffed vans where I could just detect the point of a knife sticking out of the side of his left shoe.

I walked closer to him and plucked the knife out of his shoe. "I'll take that," I said coldly against the quiet protests of the last girl. She had brown hair like her brother but bright green eyes instead of brown. She looked about sixteen also and I figured that she and the first boy were twins. She had a fox as her Guardian.

"So, what do we have here," I inquired while starting to pace in front of them. The older boy's glare intensified and never left my face. "Four trespassers, one clearly armed, and from the Alvarez family. Am I correct?"

The blonde headed girl nodded shyly and whispered, "We aren't trespassing, and we came for help." I raised an eyebrow at that. "You see, our parents were just murdered . . ." her voice trailed off and she began to sob hysterically.

"Really," I said with mild interest. I held my knife up to her neck, very aware that the eldest boy was still watching me intently, "how can I know that you are not lying through you teeth?"

"We aren't liars!" the eldest finally spoke up and took two angry strides towards me before Assyria cut him off with a warning growl. "Look at her! Look at Idalain! She's fucking crying her head off and you think we're _lying_?" he shook his head in disbelief.

"Well look here, _I_ had my parents murdered, _I_ have been in hiding with my siblings for the past six years of my life, _I_ have been working my ass off just to be sure that I won't lose the rest of my family!"

"Yeah, well so are we." The older girl huffed and walked over to comfort Idalain.

I sighed, "All right, I'll help you if I can, but Ashtin makes the final decision on whether you may stay or not," I silently damned my niceness. "Now, can I know your names or am I just going to continue pointing at one of you and saying 'Hey you there, can we talk'?"

Idalain started to giggle through her tears and introduced what was left of her family. "Well you already figured that I'm Idalain and this is my guardian"—she indicated to the dove on her shoulder—"Molly. She's very friendly." Then she walked over to the brown haired boy, "Ryan here is Zaria's twin brother. His guardian is a doe named Kyrie. Then there is Zaria; she is sixteen so she's the oldest girl, I'm fourteen by the way."—Aha! I was right about their ages—"Her guardian is Nixon. He's a fox. My older brother—the one whose knife you have in your hand—is Aidyn. He gets moody sometimes but he's a good big brother. His guardian is a raven, but Aidyn isn't good with names so he just calls him Raven." Idalain shrugged and went to go stand by Zaria.

"So let me get this straight. Your parents were murdered, you're looking for help or a place to stay, and your names are Idalain, Ryan, Zaria, and Aidyn?"

"That's right,"

"Alright I'll take you to our house now but if your show anybody where our house is, you can say goodbye to your pretty little necks. You got that?"

Idalain gulped and nodded vigorously as I got mumbled agreements from Ryan and Zaria. Aidyn continued to glare at me. I turned briskly on my heels and started walking back to the cabin, Assyria at my side every step of the way.


End file.
